I was reborn without dreams

Chapter 14 Zhang An Marries, the More the Merrier

A 1.76-meter-tall, sunny older man, driving a black 1.8-liter manual Santana, wearing shiny leather shoes, a snow-white shirt, and a pair of high-end trousers with a smooth, silky fabric. Apart from the slightly outdated belt buckle, Uncle Zhang looks very masculine and healthy when he smiles.

Li Jiawen's first impression was quite good.

Zhang Da'an arranged everything perfectly for his uncle, including two Titanic movie tickets that had expired six months ago and a buffet at the Foreign Trade Hotel. He even had a bouquet of flowers delivered to him during the meal.

In short, the woman felt that the man respected her and treated this not-so-free date with a very serious and earnest attitude.

The man, Uncle Zhang, had a good impression of the woman entirely because of her thriftiness and the fact that she only had one married brother.

That's great! He's not a "brother-supporting demon" (a woman who prioritizes her brother's needs over her own), our Zhang family is saved!

Zhang Da'an also had a good impression of his second aunt's brother, who worked at a boiler factory. Occasionally, when he passed through Wuxing Village on his way to receive welfare benefits, he would bring some back for his sister.

Interactions with others should be kept within reasonable limits, neither overly enthusiastic nor cold and indifferent.

The Li family is much more cultured than the Zhang family.

"So, it worked when I told you to stop swearing, didn't it?"

"Little monkey... cough um, what do you think of this Teacher Li?"

“I think she can improve her education level. She can enroll here and prepare for the adult college entrance examination to get an adult bachelor’s degree. After she gets the bachelor’s degree, I will send her a labor contract from ‘Zhang An Education’.”

"..."

"Why are you looking at me? My junior teacher training college degree isn't enough to impress you."

"No, don't you care about my marriage, your uncle's important matter?"

“You’re an adult, and forty years old, I…”

"Thirty-nine, thirty-nine years old."

"..."

It seems she's quite bothered by her age.

Ha ha.

Zhang Da'an was too lazy to waste words with Uncle Zhang and said directly, "After I get the top score in the college entrance examination next year, I will go to the other side of the Yangtze River to recruit teachers. But, of course, I will need to have my own people, mainly to help me keep an eye on the progress of the work."

"How can you talk so casually? You think you can just get the top score in the college entrance exam like that? Don't take my words seriously."

Seeing his nephew looking at him with the same disdainful gaze, Uncle Zhang pouted. Although he felt wronged and unwilling, he could only submit obediently.

There's no way around it; if I want to succeed in both my career and family, I have to depend on my nephew's mood.

A man can bend and stretch!
"By the way, Uncle, how many of my father's comrades do you know?"

"Most of them are from Lingxi, which is thousands of miles away. What's the point of asking?"

"Next year, I plan to add a vocational skills training program, starting with vehicle repair. If my father's comrade-in-arms has children, they should be around my age. Anyone willing to learn a trade will be provided with room and board, and will be guaranteed to learn and obtain a certificate."

"..."

These words left Zhang Zhengdong speechless for a long time. He sat motionless for a while before smoking a cigarette with a dazed look in his eyes.

He just kept smoking, not saying a word, as if he was thinking about something.

"Back when your old man went off to fight the Vietnamese, he actually wrote his will home..."

"I know."

She raised her hand to interrupt Zhang Zhengdong, saying, "You don't need to tell me these things, Uncle."

"..." Zhang Zhengdong fell silent again, tapped Zhang Da'an with the cigarette between his fingers, and spat out a curse through gritted teeth, "You little dog Zong Sang (beast), you're really no good, but never mind."

Zhang Zhengdong had always known that his cousin was a deep and complex person, but occasionally experiencing this inhuman sense of alienation still gave him a strange sense of panic.

But what can be done? After all, this is a child registered under a separate household registration.

It's normal for a child to grow up to look different; as they are now, they're already doing very well.

Uncle Zhang comforted himself with these thoughts.

He actually had a secret; his original plan was to find a wife after Zhang Da'an turned eighteen.

Right now, all I can say is that sixteen-year-old Zhang Da'an is probably much more capable than he was at thirty-eight, forty-eight, or fifty-eight.

It would be nice to have a woman manage the household.

But somewhat out of the blue, the annoyed Uncle Zhang asked curiously, "And what about you? What kind of wife are you planning to find in the future?"

"I?"

Zhang Da'an unscrewed the thermos and said with a smile, "As for me, the more the merrier, as long as they look good."

"..."

Uncle Zhang could only point at Zhang Da'an in the end, and then left without saying a word.

Sure enough, my nephew is different from others.

As November and December approached and the weather turned cooler, senior high school students across the city began taking frequent diagnostic and mock exams. The difficulty level varied in waves: first, the exams were made more difficult to assess the stability of top students, then easier to assess the overall basic skills, and then the difficulty was gradually increased...

This process will continue until May of next year.

In Jiangkou Province, there are generally no new courses for the senior year of high school; the entire academic year is spent doing practice tests. High school content is usually already learned in the first and second years of high school.

Zhang Da'an participated in the city-wide joint exam just to get by. He either didn't write the essay or didn't fill in any of the multiple-choice questions in the math section, which was worth 60 points. He was just trying to make up the numbers and get by.

However, at this time, some sharp-eyed principals from other schools finally noticed that this top scorer in the middle school entrance exam was going to directly participate in this year's college entrance exam.

After the news spread, the city newspaper came to interview him, and the city TV station even used it as a gimmick to film a segment. Zhang Da'an also chatted with the reporters for a while, and incidentally gave "Zhang An Education" and "Top Scholar Tutoring Class" another subtle advertisement.

"Zhang, I didn't expect you to choose to take the college entrance examination when you're only in your first year of high school. What were you thinking?"

"I just wanted to give it a try. I personally feel that I have mastered most of the knowledge from high school."

Are you under pressure?

"I don't feel any pressure; I feel quite relaxed."

“We’ve seen that your scores in the recent city-wide mock exams are okay, but not as impressive as your high school entrance exam scores. With this difference, do you still have the confidence to face the college entrance exam?”

"I'm still confident. I personally think that getting a score high enough to get into a top-tier university shouldn't be a problem..."

This interview sparked some public discussion. Firstly, some questioned whether Dongweigang Middle School had violated regulations. Secondly, some felt that Zhang Da'an, the top scorer in the high school entrance exam, was simply seeking attention. Thirdly, some within the education bureau believed that Zhang Da'an's actions set a bad precedent, potentially encouraging many parents of first and second-year high school students to have their children take the college entrance exam, thus increasing the school's management costs related to exam preparation.

However, these opinions didn't matter to Zhang Da'an. All he wanted was fame and influence. In any case, the parents of the students at "Zhang An Education" were all full of confidence.

Previously, Zhang Da'an's ability to help his children succeed was difficult to quantify, but now, the scores from the mock college entrance exams make it clear.

Zhang Da'an's score fluctuated between 580 and 620, but one thing he did was skip the Chinese composition and math multiple-choice questions, which together accounted for 120 points.

If Zhang Da'an only gets 40 points for his essay, then his actual total score should be increased by 100 points, which would be between 680 and 720 points.

It's definitely another top score, and this truth is currently a secret within "Zhang An Education." The parents are keeping it a secret, afraid that it will be found out.

(End of this chapter)